Regions Archives: Europe

Every now and then in cocoa sustainability work it’s very useful to take stock of where we are on a particular topic, share ideas and put experts together. At the end of last year we did this for the areas of cocoa soils and use of fertilizer in cocoa production. We started work on our Vision For Change program in Ivory Coast and have

Efforts to increase collaboration between cocoa producers, international traders, partner organizations and policy makers took a major step forward during the second annual Africa Fairtrade Conventionin Accra, Ghana on November 23rd through 26th. The convention, which has grown substantially in just a year under the leadership of Fairtrade Africa Chairman Yorokamu Abainenamar and Executive Director Michael Nkonu, provided an opportunity

Today’s announcement of Mars Chocolate’s first Fairtrade product marks an important milestone in our mission to deliver better tools and opportunities to farmers so they can grow more productive crops and build vibrant, sustainable livelihoods.

Cocoa genetic resources are kind of taken for granted in the cocoa world. Genetic resources include the wild, uncultivated, and uncollected varieties of cocoa still growing in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins, the original home of cocoa as well as the large collections of cocoa varieties which have been collected and are maintained in Trinidad (ICG,T) and Costa Rica (CATIE). These relatively uncharacterised

Cocoa (Cacao) fermentation is critical to develop the precursors for cocoa flavour, brought out when the beans are roasted. Duing the process, there is lots of microbial activity, the pulp surrounding the beans drains away, acid is generated, the fermentation heap gets warm and the cocoa beans begin to germinate but are stopped by the acidity and heat. Fermented beans are no longer viable

Lots of people ask about cocoa bean fermentation, what is it and why is it necessary…. In short, fermentation is a very complex process, involving microbial activity acting on the cocoa pulp, changes in the internal cell structure and chemistry of the bean, and changes in the internal colour of the bean. The temperature and acidity generated in fermentation kills the cocoa bean, and

This is a copy of the leaflet handed out at the Chelsea Flower Show, from the University of Reading’s award winning exhibition on cocoa. Its a summary of the research supported by Mars and others at Reading on germplasm movement, climate change effects, physiology and managing pests and diseases.

The Chelsea Flower Show is one of the most prestigious and impressive flower shows in the world, and was visited by the Queen and President Obama during his visit to London. This year the University of Reading put on a display highlighting their cocoa research (part supported by Mars), into physiology, breeding, climate change, and pest and disease management. The University manages the only cocoa